Last in Line
by MiniMcGiggles
Summary: The sounds of battle fade into a thin whine in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he rushes towards the man, his palms out and ready to cast a spell when needed, but before he can take another step forward, the man shouts and sudden metallic hands wrap around his chest and arms. Fingers dig into his open wound, stretching the skin further apart and tearing the muscle. Two-shot
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **The sounds of battle fade into a thin whine in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he rushes towards the man, his palms out and ready to cast a spell when needed, but before he can take another step forward, the man shouts and sudden metallic hands wrap around his chest and arms. Fingers dig into his open wound, stretching the skin further apart and tearing the muscle.

**A/N: **I should really stop reading the manga over and over – because this is what happens! Ahh~ anyway, if you read further into this, there will be things that might relate to the manga…? But I have a great explanation! Well not really, but this is what happens! Sorry? Anyway the metal monsters during the dragon vs Natsu arch (where _Spoiler_ Gray dies –if you didn't know well sorry (?)) ya I kind of took those and made them sexier, _oh-la-la_! And have you noticed Gray hasn't had any power ups, well excluding the new chapters? Well here we are! Those were the two things that made me throw my hands up and flip my table. This story needed to be written, if not for your sanity then for mine! And why not write this story? Why the **fuck** not, hmm?!

**Warning:** Cussing, maybe a little OOC-ness (I hope not), and there might be slight grammar and spelling errors

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail :(

* * *

He's starting to think that the world is growing up too fast. He thinks it's just deciding to grab its bags and walk out the invisible door, leaving with everyone else – except him.

He's learned to defend himself. Put up a good fight. Defend when someone is barreling down on him. Strike when he has an opening. But he only fights when he understands his opponent. He's not going to get up and smack someone on the ass when they are down. He understands the rules of a good fight, and he wants to live by those rules.

But he always feels left behind.

Though he tells himself that he's just as strong as they are, but he doesn't truly believe it. He never has.

When he joined the team with Erza, he always thought he was the third strongest – and he believed it. Lucy was weak and had _damsel in distress_ written on her chest. He knew she was weak and he knew he would have to watch over her, despite Natsu's unexpected care for the girl. Natsu was always second strongest. His heart was full of passion and his strength was unexpected at times. Gray would pick fights with the asshole, just to see how strong he was compared to the Dragon Slayer. Erza would always stop them before they would get too far into the fight. Despite their bickering, he always believed Natsu had a different reason for fighting. Erza was always the strongest. She has been the strongest of the three since they were little.

But now, Lucy, Erza and Natsu have grown. They grow stronger each day.

He hasn't grown that much. He's defeated enemies and talked sense into those who are plain idiots. But he hasn't grown. He believes he is the weakest now, dragging everyone down by clinging to their legs like a child who wants attention. He's ready to let go now, let them race to the finish line and become the strongest mages the world has ever seen.

But he doesn't want to let go and watch them leave him behind. He's afraid to see them zip ahead and leave their backs facing him, becoming a wall he can never vault over.

He's starting to think the world that the four of them live in, is about to shit him out and leave. The world they created together, by the hands of laughter, strength, and friendship, is about to pack up and leave.

The rain is cold and stings when it drops from the sky and meets his skin. It's odd because he knows he should be used to the cold – but these rain drops are entirely different. They make the ground slick and freezing by the constant drone they make when they hit the concrete surface.

The town in the distance is bright and warm compared to the area surrounding the four of them.

But the warm inviting wave of care is cut off by the cold glint of metallic arms and eerie lifeless silver eyes that are coming down on them from the heavens. He can hear the pull of metal and the churn of gears behind him.

Anxiety, he's felt it before. Though this time, this feeling of nervousness is skin crawling and stomach churning.

The stinging rain washes blood down his skin in pools. A bite from the metallic humanoid jaw is gorged into his shoulder, chunks of muscle and bone gleaming in the pale, hidden moonlight. Scratch marks littler his arms, bare chest and back. His teammates don't look any better.

Lucy and Erza are pressed against his back; the three of them are surrounded by thousands of the woman shaped machines. The robots jaws are snapping and their long sharp nails are slicing through the air, but the machines are waiting for a command.

Natsu is in the distance fighting against the robots master. Lucy, to his right, is panting heavily, a key in her grasp, ready to send out another spirt – despite already having two fighting along her side. Erza is quiet, her armor shrunken down to flaming red pants and a thin sword placed out in front of her.

"Okay," Lucy breaths out, "can we take five?"

The machines crackle at her request. He feels Lucy shiver next to him.

"I just need to catch my breath," she adds, adjusting her foot placement.

Erza shoots a look towards Natsu. Blood covers half her face, a cut running across her forehead. "We need to finish up here and help Natsu."

"How?" He asks, "There's got to be at least a hundred of these things."

He hears Natsu cry out in the background.

"Someone has to go help Natsu," Lucy quietly agrees to Erza's statement.

No one replies at first, and it is then he notices the two girls are looking at him from the corner of their eyes. He sighs; this was not a great idea. Though he knew he was the best option for the request. If Erza went he and Lucy would not have a great chance with defeating the robots. And if Lucy went, Natsu would pay too much attention to her safety to do much damage. So he nods in agreement to their silent plea. At least Erza thought he was strong enough to help the Dragon Slayer.

He places his hands on the ground and wills his magic to life. The ground beneath him cools, the pools of rain that surround him harden and ice shoots out from his fingertips. A large pillar of ice grows out from the ground and lunches him into the air. He's flying in the air, the rain begins to sting his flesh again and his shoulder wound screams in agony at the sudden air pressure. But he lands perfectly, the puddles of water splash away from him and the crazy man passes him a questioning glance.

Natsu takes this opportunity and lands a flaming punch to the man stomach.

The man crumbles forward, his arms quickly curling around his midsection.

Natsu turns and his face brightens as a grin grows across his lips. "Nice timing, Gray."

He grins back, "Couldn't let you have all the fun, now can I?"

Natsu opens his mouth to reply, but quickly shuts it when a hand latches onto his arm. He looks down and finds the old wrinkling man laughing. This man tips his head to the side and whispers something into Natsu's ear. The Fire Mage's eyes widen and he prepares to shout something but the man lands a loud ear cracking punch to the side of his face, and Natsu flies backwards and crashes into the ground.

The man shouts and behind him he hears the machines move, and Erza calls out a command, racing forward. Frowning, he locks eyes with the old man. The shouts of battle, clash of swords against metal, and snap of robot jaws all fade into a thin whine in his ears. He launches forward, but he soon notices his movements have slowed by the stinging rain and loss of blood. His attack was quickly predicted by the old man and he tenses two odd metal arms out, ready to slice at the oncoming Ice Mage. To everyone's surprise, Gray ducks and sidesteps, catching the old man off guard. He dives to the old man's side and extends his hands, light suddenly floods the dark raining area and large ice arrows shoot out from his hands. The attack catches the old man off guard, hitting him square in the chest. The old man flies backwards and crashes at Natsu's feet.

The Dragon Slayer smirks, a bruise blowing up his cheek, he throws his fist into his palm and watches the old man's eyes widen. "I told you so, old man."

Gray watches the two exchange glares, but soon realizes that the old man is still laughing silently. Gray doesn't know if Natsu knows this or not, but he suspects the dumbass hasn't noticed yet. Gritting his teeth, he rushes towards the man, his palms out and ready to cast a spell when needed. But before he can take another step forward, the man shouts and sudden metallic hands wrap around his chest and arms. Fingers dig into his open wound, stretching the skin further apart and tearing the muscle till blotches of blood sprout to the surface. Gray lets out a surprised yelp and he loses his balance. He crashes to the ground with metal women clashing their jaws as if hungry to taste his blood. Their nails split open his skin and rip into muscle. He can't stop a scream from ripping past his tightly shut lips.

He hears his name being called out in the distance, but the world is still a high pitch buzz and his vision starts to cloud.

Suddenly, an unsettling shriek explodes into the air, and the metallic women cease their assault. He takes this chance to blink the pained clouds from his vision and his hands land on metal arms and the women above him freeze in an instant. His arms fly upwards and the robots soar into the air only to have the ice snap their wiring and the androids armor cracks. Their limbs break into pieces, falling to the ground with his ice.

He stands shakily as the world tips to the side and his stomach churns. His world is shaking at his feet but he blames it on the blood loss.

He soon realizes that the scream came from Natsu. The Fire Mage lays on the ground, an ugly claw mark ripped into his chest, he appears unconscious. To his left, the girls' lays unconscious at the old man's feet, blood pooling around them.

Gray looks back towards the old man and growled as the man crackled with delight. His anxiety vanishes into something else. His friends lay at this man's feet, unconscious, hurt and bleeding.

Gray shoots forward.

The man sees him coming again, but Gray is much faster now, driven by rage and determination. The man races forward, his footsteps slamming against the concrete. The two meet halfway and Gray wills an ice sword to mold in his grasp. With only one thought racing through his mind, Gray digs the gleaming sword into the old man's stomach and feels the sword slice through the man's stomach like a hot butter. The tip of the sword breaks the concrete beneath their feet and pins the man to the floor.

The old man screams, but Gray doesn't hear it – the world is still buzzing loudly in his ears.

He takes a step back and his fingers unlatch around the hilt of the sword and tremble in the air. He looks over his shoulder and sees the robots catch up; they are racing forward as their jaws open and close with loud and unsettling clashes.

He looks over himself, unconsciously forgetting about the androids rushing towards him. He looks towards his shoulder which hadn't hurt during his fight but now stings with uncanny agony. The bite mark is deep, blood is pooling from his other cuts but this one is much worse. Blood is dripping off his fingertips, and staining his already blackened pants. There is a trail leading back towards the man, and despite the heavy, cold stinging rain, Gray's blood stains the man's shirt.

Before he can look back up, a force slams into him from his left side. Him and the form crash to the ground, but Gray doesn't care about who just saved him because he's watching the metallic monsters jump onto their master and tear at his skin. Their strong jaws tear through his skin and break his bones. The man's stomach is ripped into and guts are thrown into the air by the metal women.

A scream crashes against his skull, and the ringing in his ears stops and sound explodes into his eardrums.

His head is heavy and the world beneath him is still tipping, he feels as if he is about to slip off the surface and fall into the darkened sky and lose sight of everything. His stomach rolls and his feet feel lifeless at at his thoughts.

He looks away from the disturbing sight of the man being ripped to shreds by his own creations and finds Erza's concerned glare above him. Gray blinks away the rain that still stings his skin and feels like burning acid against his open wounds. Erza shakes his shoulders, forgetting the torn wound beneath her fingers, until Gray shouts and pulls away from her grasp.

"Gray," her voice is too loud from him to fully focus on her. "Get up, get up and help me with Natsu and Lucy. I know you're in a lot of pain, but I can't carry all three of you." It's then Gray notices her right arm is hanging lifelessly next to her.

He then forces himself to nod, but his neck is stiff and he can feel a migraine coming.

Once he gets to his feet, he knows that moving is a bad idea. He should have sensed it before hand, but now he can feel his limbs shake, stomach churn, and nausea set in. He opens his mouth to warn Erza, but fails to inform her before he finds himself kissing the pavement.

"Gray," her hands hover above his form

His vision is slowly darkening; he's floating in and out of consciousness.

He's done something terrible, he knows that, but no matter how much he thinks about it – he can't recall what he's done. Shouldn't he remember something about what he's done? Shouldn't he feel something?

But he doesn't feel anything. He doesn't feel anxiety, fear, or the nausea that he felt moments ago. He feels nothing.

* * *

**A/N: **So this is a two-shot, nothing special. I actually found this hidden deep in my computer files a few weeks ago, and when I've been having time off, I type a little here and there. Oh, and my computer is super old and super buggy, so my mom is going to rebuild my computer. I don't know when she will be done but here to hoping for tomorrow!

So anyway, for my other story, 'People who Change Our World', the next chapter should be coming out soon, but I don't know when. I have started college and a job so I really don't have time to come home and type. But when I do have days off, I will try and type the next chapter for this short story or my other one. I am trying my best, so please bear with me.

Thanks for reading! :D

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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: **The sounds of battle fade into a thin whine in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he rushes towards the man, his palms out and ready to cast a spell when needed, but before he can take another step forward, the man shouts and sudden metallic hands wrap around his chest and arms. Fingers dig into his open wound, stretching the skin further apart and tearing the muscle.

**Reviews:**

_Rewinsan:_ Aww man…that episode (the feels). But hey, just a heads up, dont watch that and then read this chapter - I feel like this has more feeling than last chapter. Of course thats for you to decide. Thanks for the review!

_IcePrinceRay:_ Aww stop it **( ｰ̀εｰ́ )** You're just saying that to butter me up! Thanks so much, it really means a lot! You're a great revi-end ((lol i made that up) review friend ^_^)

_Lilymoon9: _Thanks so much! I found that in my old computer a while back, except this chapter…this chapter is my take on what would happen afterwards.

_Casseg:_ Ya Gray has just really been sitting on the side while Natsu has gotten all the glory. Granted he is the main - main character, but _pfttttttt,_ Gray's gotta have some love.

_AsDarknessSpreads:_ Thaaaanks **ʕ•͡ɛ•͡ʼʼʔ**

_Just Me:_ I've finally got time! Between getting fired, needing to buy a new computer, moving, having all my families cars breaking down at the same time (resulting in me becoming a taxi driver) and trying to keep my grades from dropping below an A - I've finally found time *sigh* But hey! Here it is! Thanks a ton for the review!

_ .__oO: _Here ya are! (∩｀3´)⊃━ ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

_IsUlv:_ Thanks so much! Hopefully I kept to that format from chapter 1! Anyway, thanks again!

_Double-Helix:_ Ya, I agree…it was a little confusing, but I was trying to make it slightly confusing because I really dont want the readers to comply understand whats going on until this chapter. I hope I covered everything that I didn't in chapter 1, but if I didn't - please please please let me know! Thanks a ton! **(~‾▿‾)~**

**A/N:** Alright I believe this chapter can't be the last! And so I may make the last chapter from the POV from the Team. But right now I will put this as complete for now. It's almost 4,000 words! Whoa mama! I would like to change a few things here and there — so I may come back and edit. Anyway, enjoy y'all. PS I loved writing this chapter xD

_**NOTE:**_ I am no doctor and I have no plans on being one, so if there are any medical problems with this chapter...well I'm sorry **_-_-'_**

**Warning**: Cussing, maybe a little OOC-ness (I hope not), and there might be slight grammar and spelling errors

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Fairy Tail. Gruhaaaa! Why can't I have anything nice?

* * *

He knows he's wake, surrounded by blurry colors and muffled voices. However, no one else in the white room notices his sudden consciousness. He keeps quiet when their forms solidify and watches Natsu pace the room back and forth while Lucy sits in the chair furthest from his medical bed. Erza walks in, they meet her gaze and the room stills. Erza shakes her head.

The room remains quiet for minutes until the temperature suddenly rises. "This is bullshit," Natsu stops pacing and sits down, his anger vanishing into something else. "They...they tore into his skin, ripped his stomach _open_. And I couldn't - I couldn't…" Gray could tell he was holding back a few words.

"There was so much blood when I woke up," Lucy said, shaking next to Natsu.

Theres a pause. "I tried to make him movie," Erza finally states.

They all look defeated, despite their previous win.

They are all frowning in self defeat, Gray hates seeing them like this. Where is the team he's grown to know and love? This defeated looking group isn't who they are. He's about to open his mouth to tell them that, but Erza straightens and grabs her right cast filled arm.

"I dont know why, but those monsters killed their own master - not Gray, not any of us." She looks proud when she glances over at him, somehow missing that he's awake. "If Gray didn't do what he did, the man would have ordered those things to do the same to us. He saved us."

Natsu scowls, "That bastard…" Something triggers in Natsu and his hand rubs his chest where the long healing claw-marks remain. "Gray - dammit, you should have seen the way those things jumped on him." Natsu shuts his eyes, "He went down so fast, and then - then…I saw the skin and blood being ripped from him." His body is shaking from grief or fear, "I tried to grab their attention, tried to save him - dammit, I tried to help him!"

"I'm not saying that it wasn't terrible - horrible even, but Gray saved our lives." Erza looked determined and ready.

Lucy stands and wipes the running tears off of her cheeks. "Its time to return the favor."

The three share a determined nod and something happens. The three grab each others hands and a newfound promise arises within the team. They each smirk and promise each other of the future. A future where they wont have to watch their Ice Mage bleed, a future where they wont have to have him sacrifice himself for their sake. This future that they are promising each other looks as if it was going to come true - with or without their Ice Mage.

Through slitted eyes, out of their newfound promise, Gray watches them silently. He doesn't want to hear what they have to promise to each other, because in his mind, the crazed old man disappears in a metallic bite, dragging Gray along with his defeat.

He doesn't realize that he's fallen asleep until his world flashes and instead of watching the old man being ripped to shreds, he sees an empty hospital room. He takes this chance to look at the many tubes and machines surrounding him. His heartbeat monitor is off to the side, Gray knows this will annoy the hell out of him soon. Other machines line his bed, some blinking in a slow beat, another grows and deflates with his intake of air.

Suddenly the door opens and a woman in a long white coat walks in. Her blond hair is pulled up tightly behind her head and any strand leaving the bun is placed back with a headband. Glancing up from her clipboard, she locks eyes with him and smiles. "It's great that your awake." She shuts the door lightly behind her and goes to the end of his bed. Despite his glare, she continues to smile. "Your friends will be ecstatic when they hear that you've woken up."

She pauses waiting for a response. "So where are they?" He stops glaring and looks around the room, averting any acknowledgment with this woman.

She laughs slightly, "I believe they said something about training."

His gut tightens, "training?"

"Oh," she shakes her head, "you gave them quiet a scare. I can understand why."

"Oh ya?"

"Well for one," she picks up the clipboard again and reads what is listed on the pages. "You had a concussion, I believe you received that when you fell? Your stomach was ripped into, thank God none of your organs were majorly injured." She continues one but stops and looks up, giving him a light smile. "You were, well…lifeless when your friends brought you in. We thought we were going to lose you when you went into surgery, you lost too much blood. But your friends said you would pull through. I guess they know you pretty well?"

Gray cringes and without thinking he spits out an angered reply, "They wish. Those assholes-" He stops and drops his head. His gaze meets the bloodstained bandages wrapped around his arms and midsection.

He can feel the doctor shift uncomfortably. "Well despite being asleep for two weeks, I would suggest more rest." She puts down the clipboard and walks out before he can reply - not like he was going to - and shuts the door quietly behind her.

* * *

It takes a full week before his doctor deems him healthy enough to go home. His head hurts when he takes his first steps out of his confinement. "Stress," his doctor tells his friends, looking over their shoulder hoping he's not listening. "Make sure he doesn't go on difficult missions for at least a month." She leans forward and whispers, "Pay attention to what he eats - if he eats. Make sure to listen to him, also."

"Listen?" Natsu gawks a bit to loudly.

"Yes," She nods at their questionable gazes. "He hasn't been emotionally well for the past week."

Gray frowns when they stop talking and break from their formation. He watches as they all smile at him as they approach his sitting form. Erza and Lucy offer a hand to help him stand but he swipes the offer away. His legs tremble underneath his weight but he doesn't look at their slight fear filled gazes when he takes his first steps out of the hospital.

He stays at his house for most of the week coming. When his team comes over, they come over as a group, each carrying something different for their visit. This visit Lucy brings extra bandages, Erza brings soup and Natsu brings a drawing notebook.

"Rest up," Lucy mutters almost every minute as she rewraps his stomach.

"Eat," Erza states boldly, shoving a spoon in his face every 5 seconds. "You'll need the strength."

"Don't exert yourself," Natsu mumbles and hands him the drawing pad along with a few pencils.

He takes the gifts with a nod and shares a few moments of awkward silence. He doesn't reply to their few words, how can he? They haven't expected a response ever since his doctors warning. They glance away from his gaze, unable to meet his silent plead for acknowledgement. They stare at the wall behind him or glance around his eyes. They dont look at him, not like they use to.

He finally gets fed up with their attitude and shoves Erza's hand away when she offers him another spoon full. "You guys are assholes, you know that?"

They all glance up to finally meet his gaze but all shoot away like scared rabbits.

"What is it that you're starring at?" He demands and sits up suddenly, his healing skin protests at the sudden movement. "My walls aren't going to give you any answers to your questions, so why look at it." The temperature in the room cools and he shakes his head at their responses. Pushing up out of the bed, Lucy rushes forward, her gaze avoiding the open wound that hasn't been wrapped correctly. He stands and points to his door, "If you aren't going to talk to me like you use to, than get out."

They still at his response and finally after 3 and a half weeks of no real eye contact, Natsu's gaze hardens on his. For once, Gray thinks everything is going back to normal in that one second he shared with Natsu, but that world crumbled into dust when Natsu looked away and headed for his door. "Alright," the Dragon Slayer turns and opens the door. "If you want to get out anytime to soon, we hope to see you at the guild." And with that, the girls trail behind Natsu leaving him to dress his own wounds and feed himself.

* * *

It takes time and effort but Gray stands and places clothing over his injures and heads to towards the guild. He reaches the Guild building when the stars start to glisten in the sky. Alone, Gray stares at the Guild door. From inside he can hear members chat, laugh, eat and drink. Music is playing loudly in the background and he hears Natsu scream something before the building rattles in laughter.

Gray turns around and heads home, hoping to fall into a deep sleep.

His skin and muscles heal after long interminable days, he heals with or without his teams help. It doesn't help that he had to sit on his ass this whole time staring at the dissolving stitches and healing skin. Natsu, Lucy and Erza teamed up to complete short missions here and there, he can hear them talk about what to do next mission while they watch him sleep - to be honest, he's slept 5 hours in the past week.

He finally walks into the Guild a few nights after his argument with his team. Members of Fairy Tail give him a few glances, some unsure and skeptical, others rush over hugging and slapping him on the back with a laugh.

He passes them, with a nod and encouraging smile; trying desperately to convince them he's alright - trying to convince them that he's not broken like they think he is. They leave him after a while, after a few conversations how he's doing and why he hadn't shown up earlier. So they leave him at the request board, letting him decide his next action to take.

Someone comes up behind him and speaks quietly, "Nothing to much." Its Makarov and Gray crosses his arms across his chest. "You may be physically healed, but," Makarov pauses, "but you aren't ready for anything big."

"I know," Gray replies back pretty quickly. He knows he's not ready, because he's had nightmares about dying, about _killing._ He can't get that old man's dying face out of his head, he doesn't want to kill anyone again. Gray glances down at his clothed covered stomach, he can feel those cold metallic fingers digging into his stomach and chest like he was the earth and they were the dog trying to hide the bone. He doesn't want to feel that ever again, but he knows this can't hold him back - he knows this isn't what's holding him back.

"You know Natsu is going on a mission soon, with Lucy and Erza," Makarov moves closer to Gray and glances up at his Ice Mage. "I'm sure they would love it if you came along."

Gray can't hold back a scoff at the old man's statement.

* * *

Lucy, Erza and Natsu finally nod as Makarov tells them, again, that Gray is coming with them, despite their demands that he stay here and heal — maybe even practice. Gray knew this would happen, but he stands behind Makarov tall and firm, with his arms crossed and eyes set in a determined glare.

They're right though, Gray agrees with what they're saying about him. But he wants to prove them wrong in someway. His stomach is lined with claw marks that have turned into light scratches across his skin, however a few bandages are still wrapped around his section.

Erza, Lucy and Natsu have all healed from that battle, Gray has not.

* * *

The mission is coming to an end and the big fight as come.

They are lined up next to each other, shoulder by shoulder, and Gray finally sees how far behind he is with his strength compared to theirs.

They're facing off against siblings who seems as if they actually _love_ each other, because no brother would hold his sister that way. Their enemies are holding hands and using dramatic arm gestures to get their point across, Natsu can't help but laugh.

"You will fall by our hands, Fairy Tail," the sister spits in disgust and punches a fist forward.

"Our hands will crush you into dust," the brother crushes a piece of clumped together dirt in his hand, then blows it out of his grasp. "You will sail away with the wind we are done with you."

Natsu grabs his stomach and leans backwards with a loud laugh. "What," Natsu places his hand on Lucy's shoulder to help catch his breath, "the - fuck!"

Lucy and Erza however find this unassuming and scold him for his language. With this, the two siblings glare and the girl stomps her foot on the ground, the ground shakes at the woman's command. "Learn to fear your enemies, _Fairy Tail._" With her last word hissed, the ground violently shakes, rocks and pebbles slowly roll along the ground coming together behind the two siblings. A large rock figure comes together and for a brief second, Gray and his team held their breath.

Erza, who is beside him, glances past him, "This is where our training will pay off."

Gray looks quickly at Lucy and Natsu, who are also looking past him. He opens his mouth to ask what the hell they are talking about — but he then notices their stares are set on him. He feels pity gush out of their gazes, drowning him in concern and fear. All this time, they haven't acted as if he was slowing them down — but now, now he can feel the weight that he is putting on this team.

Before he can act the siblings disappear behind a wall, making Gray blink twice before he notices what that wall is made of. That wall is standing firm in front of him, made of his friends who are forming in front of him — leaving him last. He blinks again, not quiet understanding, and he takes a step back.

Then he realizes, they're trying to protect him.

The first part of the fight goes quickly. His friends, teammates, are fighting with everything they've got making sure the two siblings don't get past their wall, to him. Gray just stands back and watches them fight. Erza reequips her armer, while doing so, she bends over and Lucy rolls across - kicking the brother in the chest, sending him backwards. Natsu follows after, sending a flaming attack toward the siblings, Erza and Lucy follow behind him.

Gray sits back and watches his teammates flow together on the battle field. They dont look at each other. Why would they? They are woking in perfect harmony. Flowing together with such perfection, it makes Gray jealous at their teamwork.

Despite their powerful teamwork the three had quickly forgotten about the rock monster that had formed behind the siblings, so had Gray.

Sharp rocks dig into his waist and stomach, as large rocks form a hand around him. The sudden weight made him cry out, grabbing the attention of his teammates. They turned with anger and hatred burning in their eyes.

"Bastards!" Natsu called angrily towards the siblings, "let him go!"

They laugh, "As you wish," speaking in unison.

Gray's eyes widened as he heard their words. The hand drew back then flew forward and released its hold on the Ice Mage, flinging him towards one of the many broken abandoned buildings in the deserted area. Gray twists in the air and casts an unthought spell toward the monster. The rock freezes quickly. He turns again - but soon realizes he's to close to his set destination for him to do anything.

He hits the building, hard. His right shoulder pops at the sudden impact and his head cracks against the building. He falls downward and lands, tangled and bleeding, on the dusty floor.

"Gray!"

His name rings across the old forgotten town. He looks up, blood and sweat pooling down his face. He meets their gaze and has to look away — he's too _weak_.

Something beneath him shudders and he notices the ground is opening up underneath him. His eyes widen and he scrambles to his feet, ignoring his shoulder's protesting. His back bumps into the wall he had just hit. Gray glances up and watches the woman smile as she rises up from the ground.

"Stay away from him, you freak!" Lucy is rushing forward, her keys grasped tightly in her grip. However, the brother smirks behind them and raises his hand. The ground shakes and a wall of dirt and rock rises from the ground, blocking Gray from his team.

"You dont seem very durable," the woman speaks in a humorous tone.

"Better than you are, bitch," Gray growls out.

The sister frowns and flips her hair in disgust, "We'll see who's better." With that she drops down from her rock perch and rocks rush towards him at her command.

Gray leaps to the side, avoiding the crushing force of the earth. Placing his hand on his shoulder, he wills ice to form a quick cast around his arm. He looks left and right quickly, looking for anything to use as a weapon but finds nothing. He'll have to settle for his weakened magic, since he can barely use his right arm.

The sister giggles and rushed forward. Gray frowns and sends ice laces in her direction, some hit right next to her, and others manage to collide with her skin - however, the ice doesn't pierce the skin, it curls around her shoulder and stomach coming to a rest. Gray steps back in question, but quickly leaps to the side, dodging her full frontal attack. Even with his dodge, the woman lands a hardy kick to his shoulders, making him cry out. He's thrown backwards towards the corner of the house. A sharp rock slices across his cheek when he slides down the wall of the sharp building side. He looks up and finds sharp rocks hovering a few feet away from him.

"I win," she smiles at her own claimed victory.

Gray growls, "We haven't finished yet."

"Oh yes we have," she flips her hair again and turns. "I'll tell your friends that you weren't even a match for me." She takes a few steps away, back turned. Then, suddenly, she turns with her hand lifted into the air and her middle and thumb pressed together. "Its really sad,really. My darling brother would be betrayed, but than again…you are one handsome Mage."

"Whore," Gray feels his warm blood leak down the side of his face. Placing his working hand on the ground, Gray stands and glares past the hovering rocks. "Is your mother and father, brother and sister, too?" He lets a laugh rattle past his smirk, "Figures. You two are an ugly bunch."

"Fucking jerk," the sister snaps, rage quickly burning in her eyes. "I've already whipped your weak ass and yet here you are, asking for death."

"Death can't take me," Gray remarks.

"Well I guess today's the day he opens the door when you come knocking."

Gray's smirk transforms into a frown because now, now is the time he reminds his team why he's on their team. Now is the time he reminds himself why he needs to become stronger.

The girl reflects his frown and snaps her finger, the sharp rocks flying forward. Jumping to the side, Gray quickly avoids most of them, however, a few smaller ones ripped his shoulder and left arm — digging into his skin. He held back a moan of pain when he rolled along the ground with his right shoulder. Nonetheless, Gray rolls onto his feet and with a cry he slams his hand onto the floor. The result is large sharp pillars of ice jetting out of the ground towards his target. She jumped to the side, easily avoiding the razor-edge attack. Dragging her foot along the ground, a large magic circle appeared before her and with a thrust of her hand, a large arm stretched out of the ground. The arm, dripped with dirt and dust as it shot forward. Gray quickly sliced his hand in the air and a large shield of glistening ice appeared before him. The hand crashed into his shield, cracking it slightly.

"Gray!"

His name is called so suddenly, he thinks it's the wind. But their is no wind and to his left he sees three people standing proudly.

"Don't worry," Lucy is standing confidently in front, "we're here to help."

Past his ice and the large dirt hand, Gray can tell the sister is smirking.

* * *

Back pressed lightly agains the chilled tiled wall, head drawn down between his arms that are resting on his knees, Gray is sitting slumped in the shower. The water is sprinkling harshly against his soaked head of hair and slivering down his back. The steady drone helps drown out his last fight, but it doesn't help with the fact that he was defeated - again.

His bathroom is covered in shadows but the water sparkles like silver in the dark. His room is silent and empty. He forgot how he got home after the mission ended, he's even forgotten how long he's been in shower. There is light shining underneath the bathroom door. He thinks he left his kitchen light on.

Leaning on his side, Gray can feel the shower produce new rivers down his back. He takes a slow breath in and holds. His inner tension is building, slowly. Than, once he can feel it rattle his insides, he lets out the stress filled breath. He decides to repeat this process and with this, his tension drains with each release.

A knock rattles his front door.

He doesn't react except to shut his eyes. He hopes the person at his door will leave, hopefully deciding he's not actually there.

A knock rattles the front door, again.

"Gray?" Its a male voice, strong, calling out.

"Go away," he whispers to himself.

"Gray?"

"Gray-sama?"

Dammit, Gray curls into himself. Not her.

"Mr. Fullbuster?"

"Gray?"

Voices rattle past his door and fill his head with dread. They came to cheer him up, Gray decides. But he doesn't want to see them, because each look he's received for the past 3 months have been of pity and concern. He peeks past his shut eyes when the voices fade into quiet whispers of conversation, then soon drift away.

It isn't fair, he knows. Its childish and stupid of him to throw this fit, but he can't help the feeling of loss and hollowness from seeping into his very being. The throb of each bruise, each painful thud of his heartbeat in his veins, the pain from each tug of his scarred skin, reminds him of his loss.

He falls asleep there, in his shower - but everything drones out into a dark world. Its a world filled with screams of tortured old men and cries of friends, but something happens and the world begins to brighten. When he looks around, his heart becomes a hollow void when he is faced with three strong backs.

* * *

**A/N:** OMG! Did you read chapter 407! He gave Natsu his _muffler_! His **_MUFFLER_**~! AHHHH! *Cries in corner from happiness* **ʕ̡̢̡*✪****௰✪ૢ****ʔ̢̡̢** This - this - _this!_ *dies*

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